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  1. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    Hey, so as we know there are lots of YT downloading tools out there, many now supporting the new DASH format. Generally speaking I use ChrisPC VideoTube Downloader, it works nicely and always gets the best quality DASH video and 254kbps audio, if available. One issue with it though is that you have to pay for it to work with 1GB+ videos. So I looked for other programs, and got this - http://youtubedownloader.com/ which worked fine and got the 2.5GB video.

    So just for curiosity sake I tried a smaller video with both programs, choosing 720p DASH on both (highest for this particular video) and wanted to see if they came out the same. They didn't. ChrisPC gave me this:

    Video
    ID : 1
    Format : AVC
    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : Main@L3.1
    Format settings, CABAC : Yes
    Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
    Codec ID : avc1
    Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
    Duration : 28mn 10s
    Bit rate : 2 035 Kbps
    Width : 1 280 pixels
    Height : 720 pixels
    Display aspect ratio : 16:9
    Frame rate mode : Constant
    Frame rate : 29.970 fps
    Color space : YUV
    Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
    Bit depth : 8 bits
    Scan type : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.074
    Stream size : 410 MiB (89%)

    Audio
    ID : 2
    Format : AAC
    Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
    Format profile : LC
    Codec ID : 40
    Duration : 28mn 10s
    Bit rate mode : Constant
    Bit rate : 254 Kbps
    Channel(s) : 2 channels
    Channel positions : Front: L R
    Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
    Compression mode : Lossy
    Stream size : 51.1 MiB (11%)
    http://youtubedownloader.com/ gave me this:

    Video
    ID : 1
    Format : AVC
    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : High@L3.1
    Format settings, CABAC : Yes
    Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
    Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=60
    Codec ID : avc1
    Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
    Duration : 28mn 10s
    Bit rate : 2 663 Kbps
    Maximum bit rate : 4 656 Kbps
    Width : 1 280 pixels
    Height : 720 pixels
    Display aspect ratio : 16:9
    Frame rate mode : Constant
    Frame rate : 29.970 fps
    Color space : YUV
    Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
    Bit depth : 8 bits
    Scan type : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.096
    Stream size : 537 MiB (93%)
    Tagged date : UTC 2014-02-14 21:16:37

    Audio
    ID : 2
    Format : AAC
    Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
    Format profile : LC
    Codec ID : 40
    Duration : 28mn 10s
    Bit rate mode : Variable
    Bit rate : 192 Kbps
    Maximum bit rate : 202 Kbps
    Channel(s) : 2 channels
    Channel positions : Front: L R
    Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
    Compression mode : Lossy
    Stream size : 38.7 MiB (7%)
    Title : IsoMedia File Produced by Google, 5-11-2011
    Encoded date : UTC 2014-02-14 21:16:04
    Tagged date : UTC 2014-02-14 21:16:37
    So quite different. Theoretically higher bitrate video on the latter, but theoretically better audio on the former. Why the disparity? I know DASH videos are not one complete file but surely there is only one "720p HD DASH" version on YT, isn't there? I've not had chance to analyse the video yet to see if the higher bitrate one truly does look better, but I demuxed the audio and looked at the spectrals of both, the ChrisPC audio does indeed have marginally better frequencies.

    Obviously my goal is to get the absolute best quality version saved on both video and audio, which if the above is anything to go by isn't as simple as you'd expect.
    Quote Quote  
  2. Looks like it's mixing and matching audio & video. The youtubedownloader version has higher video bitrate, different encoding settings (High, 1 ref frame) but lower audio bitrate

    Do you have a URL link to the YT video ?
    Quote Quote  
  3. For "regular" DASH videos, youtube-dl is a good way to pick which version you want to mix & match

    eg.

    Here is a random DASH video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JZ_D3ELwOQ

    Code:
    youtube-dl  -F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JZ_D3ELwOQ
    Code:
    [youtube] Confirming age
    [youtube] 3JZ_D3ELwOQ: Downloading webpage
    [youtube] 3JZ_D3ELwOQ: Downloading video info webpage
    [youtube] 3JZ_D3ELwOQ: Extracting video information
    [youtube] 3JZ_D3ELwOQ: Downloading DASH manifest
    [info] Available formats for 3JZ_D3ELwOQ:
    format code extension resolution  note
    139         m4a       audio only  DASH audio   49k , audio@ 48k (22050Hz), 1.46M
    iB (worst)
    171         webm      audio only  DASH audio  108k , audio@128k (44100Hz), 2.93M
    iB
    140         m4a       audio only  DASH audio  129k , audio@128k (44100Hz), 3.89M
    iB
    172         webm      audio only  DASH audio  180k , audio@256k (44100Hz), 4.55M
    iB
    141         m4a       audio only  DASH audio  255k , audio@256k (44100Hz), 7.72M
    iB
    160         mp4       256x144     DASH video  111k , video only, 3.31MiB
    242         webm      426x240     DASH video  186k , video only, 4.65MiB
    133         mp4       426x240     DASH video  256k , video only, 7.42MiB
    243         webm      640x360     DASH video  373k , video only, 8.52MiB
    134         mp4       640x360     DASH video  605k , video only, 11.11MiB
    244         webm      854x480     DASH video  742k , video only, 16.19MiB
    135         mp4       854x480     DASH video 1108k , video only, 20.86MiB
    247         webm      1280x720    DASH video 1398k , video only, 29.80MiB
    136         mp4       1280x720    DASH video 2214k , video only, 38.31MiB
    248         webm      1920x1080   DASH video 2228k , video only, 51.11MiB
    137         mp4       1920x1080   DASH video 4158k , video only, 73.91MiB
    17          3gp       176x144
    36          3gp       320x240
    5           flv       400x240
    43          webm      640x360
    18          mp4       640x360
    22          mp4       1280x720    (best)
    So I chose the 1080p version, with the highest quality audio

    Code:
    youtube-dl -f 137+141 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JZ_D3ELwOQ -o "PATH\output.mp4"

    Format : MPEG-4
    Format profile : Base Media
    Codec ID : isom
    File size : 81.7 MiB
    Duration : 4mn 13s
    Overall bit rate : 2 700 Kbps
    Writing application : Lavf56.12.100

    Video
    ID : 1
    Format : AVC
    Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile : High@L4.0
    Format settings, CABAC : Yes
    Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
    Codec ID : avc1
    Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
    Duration : 4mn 13s
    Bit rate : 2 440 Kbps
    Width : 1 920 pixels
    Height : 1 080 pixels
    Display aspect ratio : 16:9
    Frame rate mode : Variable
    Frame rate : 23.976 fps
    Minimum frame rate : 23.974 fps
    Maximum frame rate : 23.981 fps
    Color space : YUV
    Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
    Bit depth : 8 bits
    Scan type : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.049
    Stream size : 73.8 MiB (90%)

    Audio
    ID : 2
    Format : AAC
    Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
    Format profile : LC
    Codec ID : 40
    Duration : 4mn 13s
    Bit rate mode : Constant
    Bit rate : 254 Kbps
    Channel(s) : 2 channels
    Channel positions : Front: L R
    Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
    Compression mode : Lossy
    Stream size : 7.67 MiB (9%)
    Quote Quote  
  4. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    Thanks, I'll try out that tool shortly.

    This was the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkVcJ8r9vcM

    So I just took a look myself with youtube-dl. It seems ChrisPC downloaded the highest DASH version but the other one downloaded the normal MP4 stream which is higher in size.

    139 m4a audio only DASH audio 50k , aac @ 48k (22050Hz), 9.59M
    iB (worst)
    140 m4a audio only DASH audio 129k , aac @128k (44100Hz), 25.61
    MiB
    171 webm audio only DASH audio 134k , audio@128k (44100Hz), 22.28
    MiB
    172 webm audio only DASH audio 216k , audio@256k (44100Hz), 32.62
    MiB
    141 m4a audio only DASH audio 257k , aac @256k (44100Hz), 51.41
    MiB
    278 webm 256x144 DASH video 172k , webm container, VP9, 15fps,
    video only, 18.37MiB
    160 mp4 256x144 DASH video 121k , 15fps, video only, 22.60MiB

    242 webm 426x240 DASH video 248k , 30fps, video only, 36.67MiB

    133 mp4 426x240 DASH video 254k , 30fps, video only, 49.36MiB

    243 webm 640x360 DASH video 465k , 30fps, video only, 66.50MiB

    134 mp4 640x360 DASH video 613k , 30fps, video only, 99.98MiB

    244 webm 854x480 DASH video 939k , 30fps, video only, 135.15Mi
    B
    135 mp4 854x480 DASH video 1121k , 30fps, video only, 187.54Mi
    B
    247 webm 1280x720 DASH video 1928k , 30fps, video only, 268.41Mi
    B
    136 mp4 1280x720 DASH video 2232k , 30fps, video only, 410.90Mi
    B
    17 3gp 176x144
    36 3gp 320x240
    5 flv 400x240
    43 webm 640x360
    18 mp4 640x360
    22 mp4 1280x720 (best)
    Is there a way to know which truly is the best video, or is the only way to dl the normal MP4 and see? I note that it says (best) next to the normal MP4 but I see that it did the same on yours, which obviously wasn't the case with the 1080p DASH there.
    Last edited by Killer3737; 15th Jan 2015 at 18:17.
    Quote Quote  
  5. youtube-dl is supposed to download the "best" by default, automatically. That's what youtubedownloader gave you as well

    However, there is a "better" audio in the dash version. So if assume that the higher bitrates are in fact "better" versions, you can mix & match the "best" video with the "best" audio

    So it looks like chrispc downloader is downloading both dash versions, but there is a higher bitrate video MP4 version

    Code:
    [info] Available formats for WkVcJ8r9vcM:
    format code extension resolution  note
    139         m4a       audio only  DASH audio   50k , audio@ 48k (22050Hz), 9.59M
    iB (worst)
    140         m4a       audio only  DASH audio  129k , audio@128k (44100Hz), 25.61
    MiB
    171         webm      audio only  DASH audio  134k , audio@128k (44100Hz), 22.28
    MiB
    172         webm      audio only  DASH audio  216k , audio@256k (44100Hz), 32.62
    MiB
    141         m4a       audio only  DASH audio  257k , audio@256k (44100Hz), 51.41
    MiB
    278         webm      256x144     DASH video  172k , webm container, VP9, video
    only, 18.37MiB
    160         mp4       256x144     DASH video  121k , video only, 22.60MiB
    242         webm      426x240     DASH video  248k , video only, 36.67MiB
    133         mp4       426x240     DASH video  254k , video only, 49.36MiB
    243         webm      640x360     DASH video  465k , video only, 66.50MiB
    134         mp4       640x360     DASH video  613k , video only, 99.98MiB
    244         webm      854x480     DASH video  939k , video only, 135.15MiB
    135         mp4       854x480     DASH video 1121k , video only, 187.54MiB
    247         webm      1280x720    DASH video 1928k , video only, 268.41MiB
    136         mp4       1280x720    DASH video 2232k , video only, 410.90MiB
    17          3gp       176x144
    36          3gp       320x240
    5           flv       400x240
    43          webm      640x360
    18          mp4       640x360
    22          mp4       1280x720    (best)
    Code:
    youtube-dl  -f 22+141 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkVcJ8r9vcM  -o "foo.mp4"
    Code:
    Format                                   : MPEG-4
    Format profile                           : Base Media
    Codec ID                                 : isom
    File size                                : 589 MiB
    Duration                                 : 28mn 10s
    Overall bit rate                         : 2 923 Kbps
    Writing application                      : Lavf56.12.100
    
    Video
    ID                                       : 1
    Format                                   : AVC
    Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
    Format profile                           : High@L3.1
    Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
    Format settings, ReFrames                : 1 frame
    Format settings, GOP                     : M=1, N=60
    Codec ID                                 : avc1
    Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
    Duration                                 : 28mn 10s
    Bit rate                                 : 2 663 Kbps
    Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
    Height                                   : 720 pixels
    Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
    Frame rate mode                          : Constant
    Frame rate                               : 29.970 fps
    Color space                              : YUV
    Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
    Bit depth                                : 8 bits
    Scan type                                : Progressive
    Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.096
    Stream size                              : 537 MiB (91%)
    
    Audio
    ID                                       : 2
    Format                                   : AAC
    Format/Info                              : Advanced Audio Codec
    Format profile                           : LC
    Codec ID                                 : 40
    Duration                                 : 28mn 10s
    Bit rate mode                            : Constant
    Bit rate                                 : 254 Kbps
    Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
    Channel positions                        : Front: L R
    Sampling rate                            : 44.1 KHz
    Compression mode                         : Lossy
    Stream size                              : 51.1 MiB (9%)
    Quote Quote  
  6. Originally Posted by Killer3737 View Post
    Is there a way to know which truly is the best video, or is the only way to dl the normal MP4 and see? I note that it says (best) next to the normal MP4 but I see that it did the same on yours, which obviously wasn't the case with the 1080p DASH there.

    I don't know... too bad the specs aren't listed for the "best" version in that list
    Quote Quote  
  7. Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Search Comp PM
    Ok thanks, yeah that'd be handy. I guess for now I'll just grab the normal version for 720p videos first and see if the size is larger than the DASH version listed.

    PS would I be right in saying the 1080p DASH videos are lower quality than the old, pre-DASH 1080p videos? Because I have an old 1080p video downloaded in 2011 that is higher quality than the best 1080p DASH version available today.
    Last edited by Killer3737; 15th Jan 2015 at 19:14.
    Quote Quote  
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